Showdown at Castle Oblivion
by SaoryEmanoelle
Summary: Aqua has been saved from the Dark Realm. Now she, Sora, Donald and Goofy must find Ventus in Castle Oblivion and bring him back! One-shot, set in Kingdom Hearts 3.


**Author's Notes: My take on what Ventus' awakening in KH3 could be like. Before you read: If I recall correctly, no one except Terra knows Vanitas came fom Ventus. However, in this one-shot I assume Aqua somehow found out.**

 **The name of this One-Shot comes fom this amazing composition on youtube (** ** _watch?v=GECR58gMksw_ ).** **Please, let it play in KH3 Ç-Ç Ven deserves a fighting theme just like Roxas!**

 **I hope you enjoy and feel free to tell me what you think!**

* * *

They had been walking for what felt like ages. The walls of that place, of that castle, looked as if emitting light such was the white that covered every inch of its magnitude. Everything that was there seemed to not exist, all covered in a single and dead color.

The Keyblade Master Aqua walked in front, aware of every noise, of every sensation that indicated the presence of darkness in there. Sora, Donald and Goofy came right after her, weapons in hand and ready to react if necessary. It looked like there was no one there, but there was. One person.

"Aqua... Are you sure we came to the right place?" Asked Sora, not wanting to sound sceptical but doing it anyway.

"Yes, Sora. I am sure; I brought him here myself and only I can rescue him now"

"So... You met him too, didn't you? This Ventus guy" Asked Sora to his friends. Donald and Goofy agreed.

"But it's been ten years!" Said the captain of the Royal Knights "We thought... We thought we had lost him, just like Terra and Aqua too"

After Mickey and Riku managed to save Aqua from the Dark Realm, she told them everything. She spoke of Ventus and Terra, about their late Master Eraqus, and about the two entities who had brought so many problems: Xehanort, the responsible for all of that, and Vanitas, a creature made of pure darkness who had emerged fom Ventus himself. Master Yen Sid expressed deep concern regarding this since they didn't know if this dark being still existed within the young wielder or if he had been destroyed forever. Xehanort, of course, was clearly back again.

"And why didn't the King tell me anything before?" Questioned Sora "He fought alongside them! We could have saved them!"

"The king was devastated when the three disappeared" Donald muttered "We thought it was over..."

"But it wasn't! Xehanort has been around all this time... Controlling Terra" Sighed Aqua, her voice breaking with those words. She quickly put herself together however and lifted her head "But it doesn't matter. What matters is that I need to save Ven; only then we'll save Terra together! And then..."

"And then we can finish this once and for all!" Exclaimed Sora, clenching his fists and smiling with determination. The four of them nodded at each other and restarted their walk through the apparently neverending corridor and the seemingly empty rooms.

It was when they heard something.

"Shh" Aqua told them to stop and the four prepared themselves, trying to see what lie in the darkness that awaited beyond. That sound was proof that something else was there with them but they couldn't say for sure what it was. Aqua focused, closing her finger's around the Master's Defender, and waited.

One, two, three minutes went by with no more sounds to be heard. They resumed their walking, an odd sensation taking over them with each step they took. Aqua narrowed her eyes trying to see something and when they finally reached the next room, they saw it.

A small creature, its shape pretty undefined, hid itself behind one of the pillars. Sora prepared his Keyblade.

"Heartless?" Exclaimed him, Goofy and Donald preparing to attack, but Aqua gestured telling them to wait. She let the thing move a little more and then tried to approached it only in time to see it clearly before it disappeared.

"No... This... This is an Unversed"

"An what?"

Aqua turned pale. She had seen these beings many times before; their movements were swift, they blended with the environment similiar to the shadow heartless and always attacked in groups. Those were not strong but they were too many and were the first kind of Unversed she had met.

It was weird seeing one of them there, especially because Mickey had said the Unversed disappeared alongside the three of them thirteen years ago. If Xehanort had always been around, it wouldn't make sense for them to disappear like that... Unless he wasn't their source. If he wasn't, that left them with only another possible responsible, the being of darkness Aqua had faced along with the King. But if he really was the source of those creatures, he should be here too. And if he was...

Maybe Yen Sid was right in being so concerned. Aqua waited for a moment.

"I don't know how Ventus will react... When he wakes" Said the woman, looking at the three with seriousness "Be prepared"

With those words in mind, Sora thought about everything he knew about them. They had been trained by Yen Sid's and Xehanort's former friend Master Eraqus. Terra, Aqua and Ventus lived together and were raised by their Master in order to become masters themselves, but only Aqua made it through the Mark of Mastery. Terra was controlled by Xehanort and became his first Vessel thirteen years ago. At that moment, Ventus fell on a deep slumber and, since then, he was sleeping in safety inside this Castle. Only Aqua knew where he was but there was the probability of someone else being with him.

He sighed. That was all so far. It should be enough to save the boy and actually understand what had happened to him.

They finally arrived at an enormous door. Sora thought he had already seen it, what was weird since he had never been to that place before. Aqua then took a few steps ahead and touched the doorknob.

"He... He is here"

Her throat went dry. She feared what she might see behind those doors. What if Ventus wasn't there? What if he was, but never woke up again? It had been so long since she promised to come and save him but only now she had arrived. Aqua took a deep breath-

"Behind us!" Exclaimed Goofy suddenly and they turned around. It was that creature again, many of them, but they didn't look about to attack. The blue and purple beings, their name _Flood_ unknown by the four present, stared at each other as if waiting for something. Sora pointed his Keyblade at them.

"Are these the Unversed? Where are they coming from? They look nothing like the heartless!"

"They aren't heartless! They don't come from the dark, they come from... Emotions" Replied Aqua, staring at the little creatures. They stared back, anxious for her to open the door. I was weird to see this, to feel that nervousness coming from such horrendous being, but Aqua knew what she was feeling and suddenly feared seeing Ven.

"If you open the door, they might hurt Ventus" Said Donald "We'll finish them off first!"

Unsure, Aqua nodded and the three proceeded to slay the beings which, now afraid, attacked them as well. They all were too weak however and disappeared in only a few blows. Once they were alone again, Sora smiled to Aqua.

"Let's go, Aqua! Let's save Ventus! And if someone else shows up, you go in and we take care of them!" Said Sora.

It was time. Finally, it was time. Aqua turned to the door, waited for a few seconds and then opened it.

The round room, just like the rest of Castle Oblivion, was of pure white and it was empty except for the center, where stood a seat similiar to a throne. And there, sitting the same way she had left him so long ago, was Ventus.

Aqua ran to him stumbling over her feet. She just had to look at him for her eyes to water up and, once by his side, she began to cry. Aqua held one of the boy's hand, caressing his face while whispering his name.

"Ventus... Oh, Ven, I'm so sorry..." She kneeled next to him, trying to stop her tears from flowing. He was breathing but didn't move an inch. She called him more times, many time, but he didn't wake up. He... He didn't wake up.

What had happened?

"Ventus, please, wake up!" Begged Aqua, lifting his head by the chin slowly so she could look at him. Sora then frowned.

"Wait- Roxas?!"

Donald and Goofy looked at him, puzzled.

"Roxas? Your nobody?" Asked the duck, extremely confused.

"Roxas?" Aqua looked at him. That was Ventus, wasn't it? Had something else happened in all those years, something she didn't know about?

"Yeah, you guys didn't see him, did you? I... I did, and they are identical! And-"

 _Sora._

Sora widened his eyes and looked around. A voice had spoken to him and it was... Familiar.

 _Sora... It's you. Do you remember me?_

"Ahh, are you okay?" Asked Goofy due to the confusion in his friends' eyes. Sora nodded and stood silent, now staring at Ventus.

 _You gave me what I needed the most in a hopeless moment. You gave me safety. You gave me a second chance, during all those years._

He starte to remember. Years ago, back when he was still in Destiny Islands, he heard that voice. Before getting the real Keyblade, in a dream. In a dream where he faced heartless just like the ones he faced now, a dream where a voice taught him how to fight and how to use the Keyblade!

 _I was lost. If it weren't for you, I would not even exist anymore._

Sora approached Ventus and Aqua gave him space. The boy gasped; he was really identical to Roxas, but they weren't the same person. He knew and felt that. This was Ventus. This was the one who had taught him how to fight against the Darkside in that dream a long time ago. He didn't know how, not even why, but at that moment Sora knew what he needed to do.

He stood before the blonde and held both of his hands, closing his eyes. Words came into his mouth, words he had heard a long time ago and that returned to him naturally.

"They say... Every world is connected by one great big sky. Maybe, there's somebody up there in all those worlds who's really hurting. Maybe... They just need you to open your heart... And listen"

Then it happened. Aqua put her hands over her mouth, moved. Pure light emitted from Sora, calm and slow, floating until it met Ventus' chest and, when it did, he opened his mouth as if catching his breath. Sora let go of his hands slowly, letting Aqua take his place and she did it on time to see Ventus open his eyes, their blue shining as bright as they did the last time she saw him.

"V-Ven...!" Aqua smiled at him , trying to stay calm. Ventus blinked a few times not knowing where he was and seemingly very sleepy. He lifted his head a little, looking at Aqua with eyes agape "It's alright now. There's no need to be afraid"

She expected Ventus to relax with those words, but he was anything but relaxed. He stared at her frightened, then to where he was and back to her again.

"Who... Who are you?!"

It was Aqua's turn to wide her eyes in shock "Ven...? Ven, it's me! Aqua!"

"Aq-... Where are they? Where are my friends?!" He tried to get up, almost falling in the process and pulling himself together by leaning on the seat he had used for so long "Skuld... Ephemera? Chirithy?!"

Aqua took a few steps back, scared. Whose were those names? She had never heard him as much mention them while they were together. Eraqus did say that he couldn't remember anything before arriving at The Land of Departure... Was he talking about this? But why had he forgotten her?

"Ventus, I-I don't know who they are. But we'll help you find them! Me and Terra, we-"

"Terra?" He put a hand over his head "Who... Who is Terra?! Who are you?!"

And the unexpected happened. Aqua saw the color of his eyes changing. They were blue, then started to shift and before she knew it that color was gone; now they were yellow and shone with fear, confusion but, above all, anger.

Those eyes-

"Were you the ones who brought me here?!" Questioned the young wielder and, with no previous warning, summoned his Keyblade. Wayward Wind, perfectly held backwards in his hand, never looked so threatening as it did now.

"Aqua, get away from him!" Exclaimed Sora, Kingdom Key in his hand, and she ran to them also prepared. Ventus looked at all of them, clenching his teeth. Where were the other Dandelions?! Where was he?! He shouldn't have awaken here, not with these people! They should all be together!

"Ventus, calm down! You're only conf-" Aqua swallowed as Ventus' stare turn into rage. There were shadows all over the room now, shadows with the shape similar of the Unversed they had seen outside!

Ventus ( _Vanitas_ ) took a deep breath and clenched his fist as exactly six blue blades appeared behind him, his Wingblades. He shouldn't be here, he shouldn't be alone above anything else! Holding Wayward Wind in one hand and one of the blades in the other, he faced the strangers and continued.

"You will tell me what I'm doing here... And where my friends are, want it or not!"

"Your friends- Ventus, I don't know who they are!" Exclaimed Aqua, extremely nervous.

"So you captured only me?!" Ventus closed his eyes, furious "What did you do to the others?!"

Words wouldn't be enough to calm him down. Aqua knew that, the four of them did. Sora looked to Donald and Goofy, both worried with that sudden change of personality of the Ventus they knew, and then to Aqua.

"Let's bring him back!" Said Sora and Aqua nodded. She prepared Master's Defender, Sora held the Kingdom Key and they waited.

Ventus attacked.

 **Information: Quell Ventus' rage and bring him back to his senses.**


End file.
